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Thursday, September 26, 2013

Historical poster collection goes online

The J. C.
Beaglehole Room of the Victoria University of Wellington Library has launched
two new online archival resources which provide many insights into trade union
and political activity from the 1970s to the 1990s.

The Dan Long Union Library Poster
Collection and the
Therese O’Connell Poster Collection offer a unique opportunity to examine
digital images of over 400 posters created during the last 50 years by trade
union, protest organisations, government departments and other groups from New
Zealand and overseas. They complement another online J.C. Beaglehole Room
collection of music and cultural posters from the New Zealand Student Arts
Council archives.

“Posters
are a powerful and ubiquitous medium of visual communication, yet individual
examples usually only spend a short time in the public eye,” says JC Beaglehole
Room Special Collections Librarian, Sue Hirst.

“Having
these collections online will make them accessible to people at all times.”

The
collections include posters published by groups like the New Zealand Public
Service Association, New Zealand Council of Trade Unions, and International
Labour Organisation, promoting the cause of trade unionism and taking positions
on important issues of the day.

Some are
government posters which document issues such as changing approaches to
workplace safety. Other posters were created within protest movements opposing
the Vietnam War, the 1981 Springbok rugby tour, and nuclear testing in the
Pacific. Feminist and abortion rights groups are also well-represented.

The Dan
Long Union Library Poster Collection was part of a large donation of research
materials made by the New Zealand Public Service Association (PSA) in 1999.
Most of the posters were originally collected by veteran trade unionist and
activist Therese O’Connell (MNZM). In 2010, she donated around 60 examples to
the Victoria University Library, which are now the Therese O’Connell Poster
Collection.

Sue says
the launch of the online collections is timely in several respects. Over 50 of
the posters were designed by the Wellington Media Collective, the subject of a
book recently published by Victoria University Press, We will work with you: Wellington
Media Collective 1978-1998(2013). It also
coincides with events being held this year to celebrate the centenary of the New Zealand Public Service
Association.

“We are
grateful for the support of the Dan Long Trust, which enabled us to carry out
the digitisation of the posters and development of the online resources during
2013,” says Sue.

“We also
want to thank the many groups and individuals who have granted permission for
the digital posters images to be displayed.”